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While we sit around the dinner table and I look back and forth between my moms, I remember how it was hard to understand, as a kid, that it was okay to have a different family. I used to think that something was missing, that there was something wrong because I didn’t have a father. I would look around at all of my peers and see their “normal” families and wonder why I was different. I didn’t stop to think that maybe there is no such thing as a normal family. I didn’t see that my one friend had step sisters because his dad had been married before. I didn’t see that my other friend was adopted. I didn’t stop to see that despite every family being “different” from what I thought was normal, that what is most important about one’s family is not the adversity you face but how you overcome it.

The important aspects of your parents and loved ones revolve around them being there for you. I learned much later how appreciative I should have been for two loving parents who stayed by my side and fought for what was best for me. I also learned later what they had to endure from their own families just so we could exist as one. Whether it was their parents not speaking to them or their sister not accepting who they were, nothing about that is easy to deal with when you are trying to begin your own life. When those who we are closest to, the ones who should be helping us through hard times, make times harder, it can be difficult to come out the other side alright.

So we should never take for granted those who go out of their way to make our lives better and never forget what they put themselves through for our sake. It may sound obvious; it may seem like what parents are there for. But the reality is that not everyone has a family like that. So take a moment to appreciate your loved ones whether it’s your parents, your siblings, your cousins, your aunts and uncles, your grandparents or just maybe your friends who stick with you. Take a moment to make sure they know how important they are to you. Make sure they know it and make sure you know it.